Tag: resolutions

One of the major things I want to avoid this year is setting unreachable goals. There are many things I can reasonably accomplish and it’s better to focus on those than to set myself up for failure and disappointment by reaching for the moon. So here we go.

Goals that are well within my power to reach

-I will lose weight. I’m not going to attempt any fancy diets or trendy workouts. It’s going to be good-old “eat less and exercise” for me. My goal is modest: get down to a size 32 waist. I’m at 34 now, edging uncomfortably close to 36.

-Focus on my writing. Time is always scarce, but I plan on spending more of it becoming a better writer, a better storyteller, with a better grasp of all the nuts and bolts of the English language. This is very doable as long as I remain committed to this effort. Classes are workshops are not a possibility right now due to lack of funds, so my teacher is going to be the internet. Not ideal, perhaps, but there is a plethora of great information out there, and I need to take advantage of it.

-Read more. These days, most of my reading is done online, in the form of sites and blogs. This is fine, but I want to get back to reading some books that have been on my to-read list for ages. And if I want to become a fantasy writer, it is vitally important that I read more of the genre’s best works.

-Post on this blog more. I’ve been slacking off lately in this regard. Yes, life gets in the way, sometimes shit happens, etc. But this is my online home, and this is where most potential readers will find me, so I need to give them a reason to keep coming here.

-Continue to deal with depression and anxiety. I have made a lot of progress since I finally decided to get help and seek counseling. I want to get even better, to the point where I my depression and anxiety does not destroy my social life as it has been doing for years.

-Enough with the armchair activism. Get involved. My mental disorder has made it impossible to do anything political aside from voting, but I will no longer use that as an excuse to stay silent. I will seek out awesome groups and activists and find ways to help. Immigration and anti-racism are just a couple of the causes I am finally willing to fight for.

-Be there for my family. My mom and sister are my best support group, and I need to be there for them as much as they are there for me.

-Get my license. I’m 25 and have never had a driver’s license. Sigh. It’s a long story, relating to my anxiety. But that changes this year. Not being able to drive is holding me back immensely and I will fix that.

-Have fun! Life is hard and there’s no reason to make it harder on myself.

Goals that are attainable, but will require some lucky breaks

-Get a better job. Nine dollars an hour and no benefits? Yeah, fuck that noise.

-Find a place to rent. Right now, my mom, sister, and I are living with our aunt. We’re glad to have a roof over our heads after getting evicted, but we need our own place.

-Get published in a reputable lit journal/zine. I want to publish both literary and fantasy stuff. The plan is to send submissions everywhere and hope for the best.

-Have this blog grow considerably. I’ll do my part to build an audience. After all, what’s a writer without one?

And that covers most of the important stuff. I’ll look back on this post periodically to see how I’m doing. Best of luck to you and yours in 2015!